Photo Caption:Columbia University Protesters outside the building
University officials had started suspending students that refused to leave the encampment on campus, hoping to ease the situation.
Instead, it appeared that the protest was expanding on campus.
People stand in front of a glass and wood door with their arms locked together.
Student protesters standing guard outside shattered glass doors at Hamilton Hall after seizing the building in an escalation of tactics on campus at Columbia University on Tuesday
By Eryn Davis, Sharon Otterman and Sarah Nil
Protesters at Columbia University marched across the campus and occupied a building after midnight early Tuesday, hours after the university moved to suspend students who had failed to leave a pro-Palestinian encampment.
Columbia University Protesters
Dozens of people left the encampment about 12:35 a.m. and entered Hamilton Hall, a neoclassical building on the campus that is home to the Department of Classics and Columbia College.
The late-night developments began with protesters marching around campus to chants of “free Palestine.” Within 20 minutes, they had seized Hamilton Hall, with dozens linking arms and blocking the main entrance.
People inside barricaded the doors of Hamilton Hall with furniture. Outside, demonstrators linked arms to wall off entrances.CreditCredit…Bing Guan for The New York Times
The unrest came just hours after the university said it had started suspending students who had not left the encampment after a Monday afternoon deadline.
Tuesday promises to be another tense day at the Columbia campus in Manhattan, with students bracing for possible further action against the pro-Palestinian encampment and administrators waiting to see if their decision to suspend demonstrators who remained at the site would blunt the protest.
Sharon Otterman is a Times reporter covering higher education, public health and other issues facing New York City. More about Sharon Otterman
Source:New York Times
